Assistant coach Mike Catt is confident that Ireland have the skills and tactics to thwart the physicality and “aggressive” line speed on defence of the Springboks on Saturday.
Going into the third round of the World Cup, the Irish are top of Pool B but are closely followed by the South Africans, who trail by just one log point.
The top-ranked Ireland will face the defending world champions at the Stade de France, in a game that will be decisive for both teams’ quarter-final ambitions.
Andy Farrell’s charges claimed a narrow win when they faced the Boks last November in Dublin, and Catt expects another tough challenge from the men in green and gold.
Speaking in an Ireland conference on Monday, Catt told reporters: “They’re [The Boks] playing a great brand of rugby at the moment. There’s a real good mix of their physicality and their directness to their ability to move the ball.
MORE: Boks wary of ‘exceptional’ Sexton
“Having Manie Libbok at 10, Damian Willemse at 15 and Willie le Roux – they’re definitely putting the ball through the hands a little bit more and they’re causing big problems for a lot of teams.
“We’re well aware of it, but still you’ve got to try and stop it. You’re playing against one of the best teams in the world. This is what World Cups are built on.”
He added: “South Africa have always been very aggressive in their defence and it’s worked very, very well for them. It definitely puts your skillset under pressure and it’s something we’ve been working on over the past couple of years.
“A lot more teams are becoming a lot tighter and coming with a lot more line speed. There’s still space around, you’ve just got to find it in different ways.”
ALSO: All-white Boks tackle Ireland?
The Irish scored eight tries to earn a 59-16 win over Tonga in their second match of the World Cup last week, after they kicked off their campaign with a 12-try demolition of Romania.
On whether he’s satisfied with Ireland’s start to the tournament, Catt said: “If you’d asked us before the competition to have two wins and that many points on the board in a tough group, we would have taken it.
“We’re in a good place. Injury-wise we’re in a good place.
“Tonga was always going to be a very tough game, a physical game. We’ve come through that relatively injury free which is great. Now it’s about recovery and preparing ourselves for South Africa.”
Photo: @Springboks/Twitter